“Old?” I ask in confusion. “Why does your brother have old ass friends?”
“I don’t know! Maybe he’s a client? Someone he painted for.”
“I don’t like it. Cancel,” I demand.
“No. It’s too late to cancel. I’ve already promised Sean.”
“You don’t owe that fucker anything, Jetta! You sold your car for him!” I shout at her. “Cancel the goddamn date right now!”
“I did sell my car, and I would do it again because he’s my brother! He’s the only family I have who gives a shit about me. And yes, he messed up and had a gambling problem, but that’s over now, so please drop it. I need to do my hair and get a shower.”
She needs to shower because she smells like me and is about to go out to dinner with some other fucking man! Nothing to be jealous of, right? It’s not like she’s ever let me take her out on a date. And I won’t ever complain about getting to fuck her twice a day, but I want more, and she refuses to give it to me.
“Fine,” I huff because I know I’m fighting a losing battle. When it’s a choice between hurting me or her brother, it’s always going to be me who gets screwed over. I get it. He’s her family. But the dude is a prick. “Go on your date with some loser tonight, but tomorrow we’re going out to dinner.”
“We are, huh?” she asks, sounding surprised.
“What? You can go out with a stranger but not me, the man you’ve been fucking for a month?”
“A month? Has it really been that long?”
“Yeah, it has. And that’s not counting the concert.”
“Wow. A whole month. We should celebrate. For the first time in your life, you’ve only slept with one woman for the past four weeks.”
“I’m sensing some sarcasm,” I note.
“Goodbye, Dev. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Jetta says with a shake of her head before she walks out of her room with a change of clothes in her arms, a fucking dress, if I’m not mistaken, and slams the door behind her.
“Enjoy your date! If you won’t go on one with me, then maybe I’ll go out tonight and find someone who will!” I yell at the closed door, instantly regretting the words that come out of my mouth. They were stupid, and I know I’ve made a huge mistake before Jetta opens the door again, her face furious.
“I knew you couldn’t be happy with just me!” she exclaims.
“That’s not what I meant…” I start, but she railroads right over me.
“Go date someone else or screw them! I always knew you would move on to someone else even though you kept denying it!”
“I don’t want anyone else,” I assure her, but it’s too late. I fucked up and said the worst thing I could to the woman who has never fully trusted me.
“That’s not what you just said, so get out, Devlin. We’re done!” she shouts.
Guess that means she won’t be coming over to my place tonight afterward.
“You’re upset. I get it,” I say as I start putting my clothes on. “Just don’t say shit you don’t mean. You like me, Jetta. Maybe even more than like me. I’m not sure why you think I’m going to hurt you, but I’m not. I care about you. A lot. Not that you’ll believe me. Still, it’s true. I’m falling in love with you and only you.”
I hear the door down the hall shut and realize she’s already left without even hearing me out. Jetta just needs a little time to cool off and so do I.
But she’s crazy if she thinks I’m just going to leave. Fuck that. I’m not going anywhere except to follow her ass on this date with a stranger. I don’t trust her brother as far as I can throw his ass, and I’m certain there’s more to this ‘date’ than he has told her.
Chapter Twenty-One
Jetta
* * *
Devlin’s gone by the time I get ready. He didn’t even get to see my new hair color that is now a bright arrangement of blue, green and purple streaks. Not that I dyed it for my date, but for myself. And maybe because I thought Dev would like it.
He’s long gone, of course, but I still miss him. I thought he might stick around and keep arguing and putting up a fight about my date.
I haven’t decided if I’ll go by his place later tonight or not. He said some hurtful things, but I think it was just because he was jealous. Jealous of a man I’ve never met, which is crazy. At the same time, I’m jealous of the hypothetical woman he threatened to go on a date with, so maybe he’s right and I do more than just like him.
The doorbell rings before I can think more about my feelings for Devlin. Since Sean hasn’t come home yet, I go and answer it to meet my mystery man.
“Hi,” I say when I open up with a fake smile that falters as I take in his enormous size and the threatening vibe coming off the big man wearing all black.
“Mr. Cox sent me to pick you up for your date,” the giant informs me, his voice even icier than his looks.
“So, you’re not my date?”
“No,” he answers, swiftly turning around and walking away.
That’s a relief.
“Let me grab my purse and I’ll be right down!” I call out.
“Make it fast,” he responds, which pisses me off.
Hopefully this Mr. Cox is more polite than his chauffeur or whatever the heck he is.
I grab the black purse that matches my cocktail dress and then lock up before jogging down the stairs in my heels.
The only car with lights on is a dark sedan, so I go over and open the passenger door.
“You sit in the back,” the gruff driver informs me.
“All right then,” I mutter, shutting the door to open the rear one.
As soon as I sit down and close the door, he backs out of the parking lot without another word, and then we’re pulling out of the complex and driving away from the city.
“Ah, where are we going?” I ask since all the restaurants are all back in town.
“To Mr. Cox’s residence.”
“His residence? No one mentioned that to me,” I say. “I thought we were going to have dinner.”
“Mr. Cox has hired a chef to cook his favorite for you — a deep-fried duck with plum sauce and an oyster stuffing.”
“Oh, okay.”
Strange that he insists on us eating at his house, but it is his birthday.
A few minutes later and we’re pulling up to a three-story mansion on the beach. It’s lit up with lights lining the long driveway. There are several more large men like the driver standing around as if they’re patrolling a prison and not a home. I thought Sean said this guy was going to have to spend his birthday alone. Looks like he has plenty of people around…
Who the heck is Mr. Cox?
I guess I’m about to find out since the car stops and then someone comes over and opens my door for me when I hesitate to climb out.
“Right this way, Miss James,” the driver says.
“Thanks,” I tell him as I climb out and follow him into the elegant residence.
“Go right inside,” he tells me in the entry way before he snatches my purse from my hand and urges me forward with a rough shove to my back.